Question

Is silicon (Si) a metal, metalloid, or nonmetal? Explain.

Answer 1

In the given question firstly we have to define what exactly is the silicon and then we can give the proper definition and the characteristics of it. Although we can say that we know that the main points among the following is that it should have a proper characteristics of both metal and nonmetals.

Complete step by step answer:
The given question statement asks about the entire process through which we would be able to get the proper and correct explanation of the silicon and the different characteristics of the element both physical and chemical.
The element of Silicon is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Si and the atomic number of 14. Apart from that it is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor.
Silicon is also a member of the group 14 in the modern day periodic table: carbon is above it; and germanium, tin, and lead are below it. It is also relatively unreactive when compared to other elements comparable. And we can say that because of its high chemical affinity for oxygen, it was not until 1823 that Jöns Jakob Berzelius was first able to prepare it and characterize it in pure form. Its oxides form a family of anions known as silicates.
So it is a metalloid.

Note: In 1787, Antoine Lavoisier suspected that silica might be an oxide of a fundamental chemical element, but the chemical affinity of silicon for oxygen is high enough that he had no means to reduce the oxide and isolate the element.